Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC play to a scoreless draw in Chester

CHESTER, Pa. – The Philadelphia Union’s regular season home campaign finished sluggishly on Saturday night with a 0-0 draw against Nashville SC. After a midweek matchup that brought about three goals from each of the U’s big three up front, the Union only struck five shots on target. However, a solid defensive performance that only saw one shot against the Boys in Blue kept Nashville off the score sheet, claiming an all-important point against an Eastern Conference foe.

QUOTES FROM COACH CURTIN

“We got shut down by a pretty good Nashville defense, you know, they tend to get eight guys behind the ball, block things, make it hard on you, but we weren’t able to crack through tonight.”

“We didn’t create enough; we want to score goals at home.”

QUICK NOTABLES

• Captain Alejandro Bedoya booked his 200th MLS Regular Season start for the Union.
• With this result, the Union remains in third going into their final match of the regular season, where they will be in control of their destiny for home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Stagnant attacks from both sides saw six combined shots on target throughout the 90 minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half saw a lot of back and forth between the two sides. Both got some decent chances but could not find the match’s opening goal.
• The match opened within the first 15 minutes, with each side working into the other’s half with plenty of green ahead of them.
• Damion Lowe, taking the place of Jack Elliott, made multiple decisive tackles throughout the first 45, containing reigning Golden Boot winner Hany Mukhtar and keeping him off the scoresheet. Jakob Glesnes also made a key block on an early shot from Teal Bunbury to keep Nashville off the score sheet.
• In the 24th minute, Union midfielder Jose Martinez picked up a yellow card, reaching his accumulation limit and suspending him for the U’s final match against New England.
• In the second, the Union continued to control possession, outshooting Nashville 14 to 7 with five on target to Nashville’s 1.
• The U continued their pressure with eight corners but could not find the deciding goal.
• Forward Mikael Uhre entered the match in the 57th minute for Quinn Sullivan, applying pressure to the back line of Nashville, but the Union could not break through to grab all three points at home.
• With this result, the Union stayed at 3rd in the Eastern Conference. A goal from Atlanta United in the 97^th minute against the Columbus Crew kept the Union in place going into the final week of the regular season.
• The U’s final match against the New England Revolution could be for home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Revs have two games to play in their campaign, with a midweek match against Nashville before the Boys in Blue head north.

UP NEXT

• The Union will take a two-week break from MLS play for the international break. The Boys in Blue will round out their MLS regular season campaign against the New England Revolution in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on October 21.

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